Wallsv.The
State.

Concealed Weapons.--If a
person, not being a traveler, carry a pistol concealed about his person, he is
guilty of an indictable offense. His motive for carrying the pistol is
immaterial.

ERROR to the Union Circuit Court.

Dewey, J.--Indictment for carrying concealed
weapons. One count charges the defendant below with carrying a dirk concealed
about his person; and another alleges that he carried a pistol concealed in his
pocket. Plea, not guilty; verdict, guilty and a fine of $20; judgment
accordingly.

On the trial, evidence was given tending to prove that the defendant,
not being a traveler, carried a six barrel pistol about his person, which he
frequently exhibited as "a kind of curiosity." The defendant prayed the Court to
instruct the (p.573)jury that if they believed,
from the evidence, the defendant carried the pistol merely for the purpose of
exhibiting it as a curiosity, they should find him not guilty. The Court refused
so to instruct.

There was no error in that refusal. First, because, for aught that
appears of record, there might have been evidence enough to convict the
defendant on the first count of the indictment for carrying a concealed dirk.
And, secondly, because, if the defendant, not being a traveler, carried a pistol
concealed, he was guilty of the offense prohibited by the statute. R. S., 1843, p. 982. His motive for or intention in carrying it
constituted no part of the offense, and, of course, had nothing to do with his
guilt or innocence of the fact charged--that of carrying the pistol concealed.
If he exhibited his pistol so frequently that it could not be said to be
concealed, that was another matter; but it was a fact exclusively for the jury
and was not embraced by the instruction asked for.